Potted histories: shortbread

Read to crumble? Our food history series lifts the lid on shortbread.

Mary Queen of Scots led a turbulent life. There weren’t many 16th century women who inherited the Scottish throne at just six days old, married a man suspected of murdering their previous husband, and were executed by their own cousin. It’s no wonder that, according to legend, it was at her court that shortbread was popularised and refined into the crumbly treat we love today – the poor woman probably took solace in eating mounds of it at a time.

The history of shortbread is, funnily enough, rather long. Today, it is a biscuit-like affair, usually consisting of a holy trinity of flour, sugar and butter, but the original shortbread may have been a thrifty treat created from enahncing left-over bread dough, or cooked bread that was popped back in the oven to crisp up. Probably related to the similar "shortcakes”, which were popular in the 16th century - Shakespeare features an "Alice Shortcake” in one of his plays - some of the earliest recipes call for oats and “barm”, the yeasty foam scraped off fermenting liquor (try marketing that, Scottish tourist board). The name possibly reflects the large quantity of butter or “shortening” used, which stops long gluten strands from forming and creates shortbread's distinctive brittle, sandy texture – though interestingly, the word ”short” has actually been used in a more general sense to mean something crumbly since medieval times.

Shortbread-like biscuits have been made all over Britain for centuries, but the snack has always had a special relationship with Scotland. Indeed, what appears to be the first printed recipe, in 1736, is from a practical-sounding Scotswoman called Mrs McLintock, and shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in that part of the world. Traditionally enriched with citrus peel, nuts or caraway seeds and pricked with a fork to create an attractive pattern, it was often baked as a round before being sliced into triangles called “petticoat tails”, or chopped into fingers.

Early recipes' use of cheap ingredients such as oats and butter (which was not considered a particularly wealthy food back in the days when many families kept a cow) suggests that shortbread may have originally been a favourite snack of the less affluent. But it wasn’t long before it caught the eye of the upper classes, including, perhaps, Mary herself. “Petticoat tails” are even sometimes said to have been named for their similarity in appearance to the underskirts worn by ladies at the Scottish queen’s court, though there's endless theories about that one. Another possibility is the biscuits were partially inspired by Gallic treats Mary gained a taste for during her time in France, meaning the name could be a corruption of a French phrase like petites galettes (“little biscuits”) or petit gautelles, "little cakes".

If the latter theory is true, our shortbread-guzzling predecessors deserve a posthumous slap on the wrist for their fancy French nicknames - because bizarrely, these days, shortbread is a not technically a biscuit at all. According to Catherine Brown’s book A Year in a Scots Kitchen, the Scottish Association of Bakers successfully managed some years ago to persuade the Scottish government not to call it a biscuit for tax reasons, and it is now considered “a speciality item of flour confectionery".

Incidentally, anyone concerned about how an independent Scotland would support itself needn’t worry: last year, iconic Scottish shortbread manufacturer Walkers exported over £50m worth of the stuff. Let’s hope there's enough of those lovely tartan tins left for Christmas.